U.S. Immigration and Visa Application Issues You Need to Know

U.S. Visas for Employment and Immigration

Non-Immigrant Visa: O-1 visa or O-1 status is available to foreign nationals who have extraordinary ability in science, art, education, business, or athletics which has been demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim, and whose achievements have been recognized in the field through extensive documentation.

Short-term work visas are available to certain people doing specialized work, including the O visa for outstanding workers in the sciences, arts, athletics, education, or business. A job offer from a U.S. employer is a basic requirement for the O visa. There is no annual limit on the number of people who can receive O visas.

The O-1 nonimmigrant visa is for the individual who possesses extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or who has a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry and have been recognized nationally or internationally for those achievements. The O nonimmigrant classification is commonly referred to as:

• O-1A: individuals with an extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business, or athletics (not including the arts, motion pictures or television industry). 

• O-1B: individuals with an extraordinary ability in the arts, or extraordinary achievement in motion picture or television industry. =>..........

Temporary (Non-Immigrant) Visas

B-1 Visa for Business Visitors: The B-1 can be very useful for a business person who needs to travel to the U.S. on short notice to attend meetings and the like. An individual in B-1 status can not engage in local work in the U.S. A very limited exception is obtaining the B-1 visa to install or repair equipment in connection with a contract to sell the equipment that includes this service as a term of sale, which usually requires sending technical expert to oversee installation. This exception does not apply to the sale of services. 

The B-1 visa is designed to allow an individual to enter the United States temporarily to carry on limited activities for the benefit of a foreign employer. The business activity must be associated with international trade or commerce. It is critical that an applicant prepares for the visa interview. Entry to the U.S. with a B-1 visa entails some added risk because Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials inspecting visitors may not understand that the foreign national’s intended activities are within the scope of the B-1.

The B-1 visa classification is often used by sales personnel to enter the United States, to solicit sales for foreign-made products. The B-1 visa is also often used by executives or managers of foreign companies to enter the United States to do certain preliminary work necessary to start up a business in the United States. =>.......... 

Employment-based Immigration

Employment-based Immigration: For many, the first step in obtaining an employment based immigrant visa is through a labor certification application. A U.S. employer must undertake an extensive recruitment campaign in an effort to hire a U.S. worker. A successful labor certification application is one in which the employer is able to document the absence of any available, qualified U.S. worker as a result of that campaign. 

After labor certification is received, or if the alien is exempt from labor certification under one of the exceptions, as set forth below, an employment-based immigration visa petition is filed with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Once the petition is approved, the alien is ready to enter the final stage in the process. If visas are not available because of backlogs, the alien is placed on a "waiting list" until a visa is available. 

EB1 Extraordinary Ability immigrant application is in the employment-based immigration visa first preference (EB1 visa) category known as EB-1A. We are the premier online resource where the EB1 Green Card application process of how to file an extraordinary ability green card application is detailed in our powerful Complete Do-It-Yourself EB-1A application package. We provide EB-1A DIY Package and various EB1 visa application resources, samples of reference letter, and share the best practices and questions/answers to help your EB1 extraordinary ability application process. => ..........


Fast Green Card - Bypass Both Job Offer And Labor Certification

The EB-1 for Aliens of Extraordinary Ability: EB1 Extraordinary Ability immigrant visa application is in the employment-based immigration visa first preference (EB1 visa) category known as EB-1A. Aliens of Extraordinary Ability may be eligible for a First Employment-Based Preference (EB-1A or EB1-EA). A Green Card applicant with extraordinary ability in the arts, sciences, education, business or athletics is eligible for treatment as a priority worker in the EB1 immigration category.

Certain aliens are exempted from the Labor Certification application process by virtue of their extraordinary ability, outstanding research, positions as international managers and executives, or their work in U.S. national interest. An immigrant application filed on behalf of an alien with extraordinary ability must demonstrate that the alien possesses a level of expertise indicating that he or she has risen to the top of the field of endeavor.

If you have extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics which has been demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim, and whose achievements have been recognized in the field through extensive documentation, then you will qualify as an alien of extraordinary ability. If you are a member of the "small percentage who have risen to the very top of the field of endeavor", then you can apply under this category. =>......... 


The Priority Date and Its Retention

Know Your Priority Date: Anyone going through the permanent residence process needs to have a basic comprehension of priority dates. Those who are new to this process often do not have this information. 

Anyone who is undergoing the Green Card process, but does not know her/his priority date, should find that important piece of information. That little date can make all the difference in the world in how long the case could take and what options are available.

A priority date in the employment-based 1st, 2nd or 3rd preference can be maintained and used for any subsequent petitions in any of those categories, as long as the I-140 petition has been approved in the original case. This substitution of the priority date from one employment-based (EB) application to another is possible even if the EB petitions are sponsored by different employers, or are in different preference categories.

• For employment-based 2nd or 3rd preference category cases requiring a Labor Certification application (LC), the priority date is established at the date the labor certification is filed.

• For categories that do not require labor certification, the priority date is the date the Form I-140 is received by the USCIS.

An example of this scenario is when an employer sponsors an employee for the Green Card process and during the process the employee leaves to take a job at another company. If the employee leaves after the first company has obtained the I-140 petition approval, she/he must start the process over but can retain the original priority date. If the employee leaves the company before the I-140 petition has been filed, the employee leaves without the priority date, unless the first employer continues the process for the employee with the intention of the parties to continue employment after the Green Card is approved. => .........


Questions and Answers: F-1 Status Extension of Post Completion Practical Training under the Cap Gap

These Questions & Answers address the automatic extension of F-1 student status in the United States for certain students with pending or approved H-1B petitions (indicating a request for change of status from F-1 to H-1B) for an employment start date of October 1 of the Fiscal Year (FY), under the H-1B cap. => .........